Back to Normal

by Trick Question

Rating: teen
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Main 6, Princess Luna, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Sex, Spike, Science Fiction, Princess Celestia
Length: 9066

When Twilight learns returning to Equestria comes with a steep price, a secret from her past leaves her with an impossible choice.

Princess Twilight Sparkle invents a new way to travel between universes. On the maiden voyage with her best friends, something goes wrong.

Her discovery resurrects a secret from her past, one she has only shared with Princess Celestia. When Twilight learns of the price required to return things to normal, she is left with an impossible choice.

Written for The Writeoff Association's "Closing Time" contest. Preread by Axis of Rotation.

NOTE: I'm aware of Trotsworth's pony names. I chose not to use them.

Published 2015-03-19 12:40:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-08-22 21:05:13 UTC

Experimental Error

Princess Twilight Sparkle stood in the library of her castle, carefully attaching wires and leads between an odd-looking stone arch and a large metal cylinder. The archway was engraved in magic runes, and the cylindrical device bore a passing resemblance to a cross between an earthquake seismometer and an industrial-size blender.

As Twilight continued her work, five other ponies and a little dragon sat and watched—with varying degrees of patience.

"Twilight, while I'm sure this latest egghead science experiment will be awesome as usual," said Rainbow Dash, "the other princesses will be here in less than an hour. How much longer is this going to take?"

"Rainbow's got a point, sugarcube," said Applejack. "We should prob'ly be gettin' gussied up right about now. It may be just a ribbon-cuttin' for the new castle, but I reckon all of Ponyville is already waitin' at the gate."

"Thank you, Applejack," said Rarity, standing by a freestanding rack of formal dresses. "These should only take a few minutes to get into, but it's always better when a lady doesn't need to rush things. Oh, and Spike: could you be a dear and watch the entrance for us?" she asked, making a 'shoo' motion with her hoof.

The little dragon sighed. "You guys do know you don't normally wear clothes, right? It's not like I'm going to see anything new."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Clothing is not meant to hide things, darling. It is meant to accentuate. And when one is in the process of putting it on, well... Let's just say it can accentuate the wrong things," she said, then reached down to pet Spike on the head. "And let's face it, sweetie: you like some of the mystery, don't you?" Rarity asked, batting her eyes.

Spike's purple cheeks blushed a deep shade of red. "I'll... just stand out there," he said. He quickly ran outside the library entrance and shut the door behind him. Pinkie Pie giggled.

"We could start dressing while Twilight works," said Fluttershy. "Um, if that's okay with you, Twilight..."

"Look, everypony, this will only take another minute," said Twilight Sparkle. "I know I haven't told you what this is yet, but I'm so excited I would just pop if I didn't have a chance to try it out right now!"

"Tell us tell us tell us!" gasped Pinkie Pie, jumping up and grabbing Twilight by the shoulders. Fluttershy gently tugged on Pinkie's tail, and Pinkie took the hint and stepped back.

Twilight grinned. "Okay. It's a world-crossing device, just like the enchanted mirror in the Crystal Kingdom!" she revealed. "I recently discovered some of Star Swirl the Bearded's notes on interdimensional travel. For some odd reason there aren't any copies in the Royal Canterlot Archives, but there were two copies in his desk in the underground labyrinth..."

"Um, Twilight?" interrupted Pinkie Pie, her muzzle scrunched up in thought. "Didn't Princess Celestia warn you about the enter-dumpling-channel thingies after our trip to that other Equestria almost destroyed both of our universes? Because that might be a bad thing."

"Yeah, what Pinkie said," said Applejack. "Are you sure this is safe, Twi? Princess Celestia was pretty specific about limiting the universe-gallivantin' to emergencies-only."

"Don't worry! It's one-hundred-percent safe," said Twilight. "We're not even going to travel anywhere. We're just going to peek into a new universe by using this gate as a viewing port. Besides, it took Celestia more than a millenium of dimension-hopping to cross-link our universe with the alternate Equestria." Twilight Sparkle tapped a button on the seismometer device and it hummed to life. The runes on the arch began to glow.

"Oh, I get it. You want to do this before Princess Celestia and Luna get here because you want to show it off," said Rainbow Dash, wearing a devious grin.

"Bingo!" said Twilight Sparkle. She began adjusting a strange sliding control on the side of the device.

Pinkie Pie ran up to the archway and immediately craned her neck through it. "Don't leave us in suspense, Twilight! Which universe does it go to?" she asked. "Can we finally see our doubles from the Equestria High universe? I'm pretty sure I already know what I look like, but it would still be neat."

Twilight Sparkle smiled, turned to her friends, and straightened her posture before speaking. "The main problem with interdimensional travel is you have to invent a spell or create an artifact to connect to a particular universe, and that process is extremely complicated. This is why we've only been able to visit a handful of other worlds," she explained, using her best lecture voice. "However, if this works like I'm hoping, we should be able to connect to any universe, all from a single device! Each universe has its own unique set of dimensional coordinates which are calculated relative to our Equestria. Once we figure out where a given set of coordinates go, we'll be able to travel to that universe reliably."

Rarity's eyes brightened. "Might I be so bold as to presume there are other worlds out there just brimming with, oh, let's say: gold, gems, and fine silk...?" she asked.

Twilight nodded and said, "That's a safe assumption, yes! But there's a catch. I don't have a formula to determine where a set of coordinates go until we test them, and some universes might be very dangerous. That's why I have the device set up as a one-way viewer, so we can see what a world is like before we decide to travel there."

Applejack whistled. "Mighty impressive, Twilight. I reckon magic can power any complicated doodad you like, long as you got the parts and the know-how," she said.

"Well, it's not quite that simple," said Twilight. "Searching across the infinite expanse of universes requires an overwhelming amount of magic energy. Fortunately, I thought of the perfect source: the space between the universes! It's made of pure magic, and I can freely use it to power any spell that connects two universes together. Pretty brilliant, if I do say so myself," she added smugly.

"Oh, I don't know about this, Twilight," said Fluttershy, cowering back against the hanging dresses. "Harnessing all that magic energy sounds awfully dangerous..."

"Eh, don't be a spoilsport, Fluttershy," said Rainbow Dash. "Twilight's got a good track record. This should be fun. Hay, there's a universe out there where I'm a Wonderbolt already, right?"

"An infinite number of them! But again, we'll just have to try some coordinates at random until we find a world that looks interesting," said Twilight. "If I can spot a pattern, I'm hopeful I can learn to predict some of the characteristics of a universe based solely on the chosen coordinates."

Pinkie clapped her front hooves together. "Ooh! Twilight! Try Ess-Five-Point-Arr-Six-Three-Slash-Em-Six!" she shouted.

Twilight chuckled. "Pinkie, that's not even the right format for..." she said, then played a little with the dials on the device. "Well, I'll be feathered. Somehow, that actually goes somewhere. That shouldn't even be possible! How...?"

"Just a hunch," Pinkie said nonchalantly.

"Okay, now even I'm concerned. Not scared, of course, just concerned," said Rainbow Dash. Rarity and Applejack exchanged smirks.

"Here we go!" said Twilight. Applejack pulled Pinkie Pie away from the archway, and Twilight strapped a pair of goggles over her eyes. Grinning and posing like a mad scientist, Twilight reached out and yanked a large metal lever. A humming noise emanated from the machine, and it began to grow louder and louder. A deep green light started to illuminate the archway, then the device itself, and finally the entire library. After a few seconds, the light was so bright that everypony except Pinkie Pie shut their eyes.

"It's too bright! Shut it off, Twilight!" shouted Applejack over the loud din of the humming device.

The noise and sound disappeared with such unnatural abruptness that not even an echo remained. Everypony in the room blinked and looked around. A few ponies coughed just to make sure they could still hear.

"Great, now everything looks like Pinkie Pie's mane," Rainbow Dash moaned. Now that the green light had disappeared, everything looked blurry and pink: a bunch of pink pony-shaped blobs stood on a background of mauve.

"That's because of the color of the light. Green and magenta are opposites, and the light was bright enough to overload our green retinal cones," explained Twilight. She sounded awfully strange for some reason, like she had a frog stuck in her throat. "For a couple of minutes things might look pink and blurry. I'm sorry everypony, I have no idea where the point of failure could have been. I must have underestimated how much energy I was tapping into, but to break the rectifier's magilectric mana buffer, it must have been an impossibly large amount..."

"Well obviously," grumbled a sarcastic Rainbow Dash, only to be hushed by the pony next to her.

Twilight felt her way over to the gate and inspected it. It was still hard to see clearly, but it was obvious that no doorway had opened.

"Um, Twilight?" said a very soft, but completely unfamiliar voice. "Your voice sounds a just a little bit strange. Wait... oh, my!"

"Is that you Fluttershy?" said Rainbow Dash, whose voice was almost normal, but not quite. "My wings don't feel quite right."

"I can't really tell over here. Everything feels pretty much the same," said an unfamiliar voice whose prosody and accent matched Applejack's to a tee. "I feel a little different in the, er, underbelly location, but that could just be nerves. At least my hat seems alright."

"Oh no. It's happened to me too," said a voice much like Rarity's, rich and sonorous, except an octave deeper. "There's something resting on the top of my muzzle, I think, like a mask?" she gasped.

"Woo! This is so cool!" said a bubbly voice that could only have been Pinkie Pie's, from a bouncing shape that could only have been Pinkie Pie. Except it wasn't Pinkie's voice: it was much deeper.

"Everypony, please calm down and have a seat until we can see clearly," Twilight's blobby shape said. "I'm sure I can fix whatever this is. It has to be a simple magical backfire or something. Just try to relax." Twilight walked over to the herd and sat on the carpeting with four of her friends. Pinkie Pie, however, began pronking around the library.

"This feels so weird!" Pinkie bubbled, in that strange voice that definitely wasn't hers. "Everything's a little heavier, too. Oh, wow! Maybe Twilight turned up gravity all over Equestria?" she asked.

"No, because then we'd all notice it," said Twilight Sparkle. "Besides, not even I can do something that catastrophic, thank Sun. I mean, the death toll would be in the millions. No, wait... it would be much worse. It'd probably kill off everything except for certain species of plants and insects..."

"Twilight! Please stop saying things like that," ordered the pony that had to be Rarity, "or you're going to scare our dear, um, Flitter...? Or is it Flutter-something? My word, for the life of me I cannot think straight at the moment! And to top it off, I'm starting to get a terrible migraine."

A soft squeak sound came from the cowering pony.

"Yeah, I'm getting a killer headache too," said Rainbow Dash in her slightly-off voice. "Maybe Flitter—ugh, you know who I mean—was right about this being a bad idea. Hay, wait a minute. Can't you see, Nightfall Twinkle? I mean, you had those goggles on."

"They aren't that kind of goggles," said Nightfall Twinkle. "Wait, what did you just call me...?" Everypony's vision began to clear, and the pink shapes slowly grew more distinct.

"Did I say something weird? I'm having a hard time concentrating at the moment," said Rainbow Dash.

"Um... W-why is everypony, well, bigger?" asked Fluttershy, squinting. Everypony did, in fact, look a little larger. Their manecuts were markedly different, as well: most were quite short, except Rarity's which was the same length, and Rainbow Dash's which was longer than normal. And their muzzles were much larger. The implication was unmistakable, even if nopony wanted to believe it.

"What's going on?" asked Rarity, the nervousness apparent in her now-deeper voice. "Why do you all look different?"

"This... this isn't possible," said Nightfall Twinkle. "Magic can't cause this particular kind of change! Even the Alicorn Amulet didn't give Trixie the power to do it, and I've done an extensive body of research on the subject. Granted, we still don't have a theory on why it won't work, but the failure to find a magical solution is what's driven so much research in the medical field..."

"Pfft! Applejune, you look just like a dude!" Rainbow Dash said, then started laughing.

"Y'know, funny you should mention that, sugarcube: despite havin' a big fat muzzle yourself, that long mane makes you look a bit more like a girl," grinned Applejune. "Then again, that ain't exactly a tall order."

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. "Somepony hoof me some scissors, now."

"Rainbow Rush, no! Anything we do to our new bodies might make it harder to change back!" Nightfall warned.

"This is so super-duper cool!!!" raved Pinkie Pie, finally returning to the herd. She thrust her head between her forelegs, looking back across her underbelly.

Rarity looked around her. "Our new bodies? You're all... stallions. Why are you all stallions?" she asked, eyeing everypony as colors began returning to normal in her vision. Her eyes suddenly widened in horror. "Oh no. No no no no no," she gasped, looking around at her own body, then gingerly reached beneath her barrel with a hoof.

Rarity shrieked and fainted. Pinkie Pie looked up momentarily, then tucked her head right back between her legs.

The door to the library opened, and Spike ran inside.

"Oh no. Spike, this isn't what it looks like," Nightfall said.

"What are you talking about Nightfall? It's exactly what it looks like!" said Pinkie Pie, without even bothering to lift her head.

"Bubble Pop, get your dang muzzle out of there!" admonished Applejune, poking Bubble Pop in the ribs.

"Aww! But then whose legs am I supposed to poke it between?" said a pouting Bubble Pop as he reluctantly returned to an upright posture.

"Curio!" cried Spike, as he reached down and cradled the unicorn's head in his arms. But Spike looked very different himself. He was a little thinner, his frills were larger, his spines were softer and smaller...

"Dang. I guess it happened to Spike too," said Applejune. "Except like, gone the other way."

Spike looked up to Nightfall Twinkle with a pout on his face. "Nightfall, from now on I'm staying if you do an experiment with Curio around. I don't care if you guys are getting dressed."

"Okay, now this is completely impossible! The device couldn't possibly have affected Spike," said Nightfall. "There would be obvious structural damage if the mana surge had penetrated the walls of the library, unless..." Nightfall trotted to a nearby table and picked up his journal. The cover read: "The Journal of the Two Brothers".

"Spike, do you feel... different?" whispered Fluttershy to the little dragon.

"Um... Flittercoy, are you talking to me?" the dragon asked. "My name is Frill, remember? Is this some kind of a weird game? You stallions need to be ready for the princes soon! And what on Equestria did you do to poor Curio?"

"You know," Rainbow Rush said to Applejune, "that whole crush thing is suddenly a whole lot creepier when Spike's a filly and Curio’s a stallion. Just sayin'."

"Curio..." said Applejune. "No wait, that ain't right. His name, I mean, her name is Rarity. Why are we remembering these other names better'n our own? Nightfall, what in the hay is happening to us?"

Nightfall Twinkle winced. "Oh, horseapples. We did open a path into another dimension!" he realized. "But instead of it being confined to the gateway, it transported our minds into the bodies of these other ponies. We probably have some of their immediate memories mixed up with our own, but that should be temporary, I think..."

Curio blinked a few times in rapid succession, then looked up at Frill. "Spike, why are you a filly?" he asked. Frill appeared very confused, but helped Curio to his hooves anyway.

"Now wait just a minute," said Rainbow Rush. "Are you saying we're stuck in some universe where Equestria is run by stallions? Don't get me wrong, Twilight; I can buy the whole "infinite number of Equestrias" thing, but stallions in charge of everything? That's not even possible! They'd like, wreck everything in a matter of days!" he protested.

"I beg your pardon, Rainbow Rush," Applejune said, "but I'll have you know my brother is a stallion and he's very responsible. I'm sure a nation run by stallions could do just fine. Besides, I've heard you speak highly of your father on more'n one occasion."

"Well that's different. I mean, he's my Dad!" said Rainbow Rush.

"Oh, Rushie," giggled Bubble Pop.

"Oh dear," said Flittercoy, rising gingerly to his hooves. "Nightfall, doesn't that mean this 'Flittercoy' pony is in my body? Because then the six of them in our Equestria are having the same problem..."

"You have to solve this now, Nightfall Twinkle," said Curio, standing up straight and almost hiding the trembling in his voice. "We have no business being in these bodies, and more importantly, if a stallion is in my body, well, I shudder to think what may occur."

Frill shook her head rapidly in confusion. "Ooooookay. Sorry guys, but this is where I get off the Friendship Express. Let me know when you figure out what gender you are, and I'll come back then," she said, and headed out through the library door, shutting it behind her.

"Okay, okay, look. I'll see what I can do, but we may need to do the ceremony in this universe instead," said Nightfall Twinkle. "Don't worry about the mental mix-up, though. We know each other's names, but I can't remember Spike being called 'Frill', or anypony else from this universe. We're not turning into stallions, we're just stuck in the wrong bodies."

"Well... Doesn't anypony else think the name Frill is at least a little familiar?" asked Flittercoy. "I seem to remember it from somewhere..." he added, but his voice trailed off when he realized nopony was listening.

"Oh my gosh, guys! Guys! I can do something amazing! Guys, look!" exclaimed Bubble Pop.

"Not now, Bubble Pop," said Rainbow Rush. "Nightfall, how will doing a ceremony here help anything? We need to be there, for our ceremony," he asked. "You do remember that one right? The one happening in like, half an hour? The one where we're not a bunch of dudes?"

"Hold up now, Rush, I think I get it," said Applejune. "It's like, lookin' in a mirror. If we do it over here, that means they gotta do it over there. So if Nightfall Twinkle can't fix things in time, we just gotta bite the ol' apple and go out there and pretend the best we can."

Rainbow Rush buried his face in a hoof. "I can't believe this. Stallions in our bodies? I mean come on! Don't you realize what would happen if a stallion ended up in the body of a mare? Haven't you mares ever met a stallion?!"

"Oh, Rushie, it can't be that bad!" insisted Bubble Pop, a huge grin on his face. "But check this out, guys! Helicopter!!! Woo woo woo woo woo!" he said, bending his knees over and over again as...

Applejune's face went pale. "Okay, we may have a problem," he said.

Three Princes

"I simply cannot believe we have to do this," said Curio as the six ponies headed up to the staging area just outside the castle entrance where the male counterparts of the Equestrian rulers stood. "These outfits took forever to put on. I would never be able to live this down if I didn't look completely fabulous."

"Glad to see your modesty ain't changed a bit," quipped Applejune, receiving an icy stare from Curio in return. "Um, I mean no disrespect, Curio. You're certainly right about the outfits: we do look mighty sharp in 'em."

Curio smiled gently. "Thank you, Applejune."

"It's not like you're the pony who sewed them," Rainbow Rush murmured under his breath, just a little too loudly.

Curio scoffed. "What cheek! Of course I sewed them. I mean, technically my double may have done the work, but my inspiration produced the dresses they're wearing now, so it's essentially the same. Besides, these outfits are just divinely handsome," he giggled. "I daresay I've outdone myself this time. Or... we've outdone ourselves? Whatever."

Rainbow Rush sighed. "Ugh. Look, I'm sorry for being a jerk, but I'm going to be pissed until I can fly properly," he explained. "My center of mass is totally off right now, and I don't feel very awesome when I can't even make my body work right." Curio reached out to give Rainbow a hug.

"Alright guys, try to play it cool," Nightfall Twinkle whispered as he headed the procession up the stairs to where the other princes awaited them.

"Rainbow, what's done is done," said Flittercoy. "We know Nightfall Twinkle didn't mean to do any of this to us, and we've been in rougher spots before."

"Mmm-hmm!" concurred Bubble Pop, nodding vigorously. He had reluctantly Bubble Promised to a nervous group of friends to keep his mouth shut during the ceremony, not to mention several other things.

The six stallions reached the top of the stage, where two princes and a very concerned-looking little dragon stood. Five of them trotted off to the side to speak with Frill. Nightfall Twinkle tapped Celestia's counterpart with a hoof and whispered to him. "Um, Prince? Before we begin the ceremonies, I think you need to know... we may have a small problem," he said.

"How small, exactly?" came an unfamiliar voice from a familiar-looking pony. Princess Celestia's double had a shorter mane, but he was every bit as regal: he was even larger than she was, and his presence every bit as commanding. Luna's male counterpart walked over to listen in.

"I'm... not actually Nightfall Twinkle. This might be hard to swallow, but I'm a different Nightfall from a similar universe. It seems the six of us switched bodies with the six of them," he explained. "I was trying an experiment in the library..."

The male Celestia snorted. "Damn it, Prince. I specifically warned Nightfall Twinkle about doing experiments with other universes! And that means whoever I am over there must have warned you as well," he said. "I'm very disappointed in both of you."

"I'm sorry, Prince. You were right," Nightfall Twinkle said, lowering his head. "I honestly had no idea this sort of thing was even possible. I mean, I read through all of the literature, but I couldn't find a single case of mind transference across a dimensional boundary..."

Luna's double cleared his throat to speak. "The reason for that, of course, is Star Swoop the Braided," he said. "She kept ponies away from doing that sort of research in the first place, since it was so inherently dangerous. An instruction my brother and I, being pony, have also made the mistake of ignoring. Once each, I believe, although of... varying durations."

"Thank you, Mani," said a mildly annoyed white alicorn. "Alright, let's work with it. Prince Nightfall Twinkle, just exactly how different is your universe?"

Nightfall smiled sheepishly. "It's actually kind of bizarre: this universe is nearly identical to ours. The only notable difference is that, well... here, all the mares are stallions, and vice versa. Both gender and sex, to be precise," Nightfall said.

"Really? How fascinating. Female alicorns, what a novel idea!" he smiled. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Prince Helios, and this is Prince Mani," said Celestia's counterpart, with a slight smile. "Out of curiosity, you are...?"

"Princess Twilight Sparkle. The others are Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. Oh, and Frill is Spike, but that's your Frill there. They're probably explaining it to her now."

"Who are we? We—excuse me, I—am very interested!" said Prince Mani, his eyes bright.

"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna," said Nightfall Twinkle, waving his hoof with a bit of a flourish.

"I think we can ask these questions later, dear brother," Prince Helios chastised his sibling.

Prince Mani scoffed. "Oh, you sourpuss. At least tell us which sister is prettier," he said, winking at Nightfall, who immediately blushed.

"Wait just a moment. This universe, of all possible universes...? Twilight Sparkle, did you intentionally bring your friends here for your experiment?" said Helios, his eyes narrowing with a spark of anger flickering behind them. Prince Mani looked puzzled.

"What? Oh!" Nightfall Twinkle gasped, as the realization dawned. "No! I swear to you, Prince! Pinkie Pie picked a random set of coordinates to open a portal to, and this is, it's just what happened," the smaller alicorn said, dropping his head in shame. "I had no idea any of this was going to happen. I would never intentionally put my friends through something like this, no matter how much I might..."

"Excuse me, but what is this issue of which you both speak?" asked Prince Mani. "I am, if you would forgive the pun, completely in the dark."

Prince Helios bristled. "My former student and I need to have a private conversation about this, right now. I will discuss it with you in detail when we receive Nightfall Twinkle's friendship report on the same matter," said Helios. Prince Mani huffed and walked over to the other herd.

"Thank you for not telling him," Nightfall whispered, his muzzle downcast.

Helios nodded his head slowly. "Well, I think I shall have no choice but to tell him later, but you can be assured that he will keep it in confidence, just as I have. Now tell me about your universe. What other differences are there? It can't be completely identical, sex and gender aside," he said.

Nightfall shrugged. "Apparently, it can. As far as I can tell, this universe is perfectly symmetrical with our own," he said. "It's nothing at all like Equestria High, nor the alternate Equestria. Everything looks exactly the same, even down to the finest detail. In the library I noticed a stack of books beside me, and the orientations of each book were precisely the same as they'd been before we crossed over. Even the weathering and staining on one of the books was precisely the same."

"Perfect symmetry? That's very curious. You know, Star Swoop tried several times to access a universe in perfect symmetry with our own, but she never succeeded, because…" The Prince paused for a moment, deep in thought.

"I know, it's bizarre," said Nightfall, breaking the silence. "It's impossible that a global change to everypony's gender and sex wouldn't spiral out into even larger changes, so there must be some kind of force steering both universes together, correcting small imperfections as they arise. That might explain our names..."

"Your names?" Helios asked.

"Soon after we arrived, the names of our doubles became easier for us to remember than our own names. Our memories must have been tangled up in the transfer somehow, probably by that same force," Nightfall said. "In fact, we may still be connected. I think I can remember a few hazy details about Nightfall's past now, and I'm certain those memories weren't available ten minutes ago."

A worried look crossed Prince Helios's muzzle. "Twilight, I need to know exactly how this happened, but we have a ribbon-cutting ceremony to perform now. It should only take a few moments. I'll announce that the castle will be off-limits until the evening, which will give us time to fix things before you have visitors," he said.

"Ponyville has a carnival set up for the event anyway," said Nightfall. "The crowd will have plenty to do."

Prince Helios nodded. "Yes, I saw on my way in: your town has a remarkable way with celebrations, or so Prince Mani has informed me on more than one occasion. We'll do whatever is necessary to cover for you. In the worst case, Mani and I can play host to the castle while you and your friends work on a solution," he offered. "Now straighten yourself up, put on the best smile you can muster, and get ready to endure ten minutes of pomp."

"Whee," said Prince Nightfall Twinkle.

Twilight's Choice

While the others gave Prince Mani a tour of the castle, Nightfall led Prince Helios to the library to show him the device.

"Alright, Twilight. Tell me how you managed to do this," he said.

Nightfall pointed to various parts of the device as he explained, "I used a thaumaturgometric rectified amplifier and focused it on the larger M-brane field, which I was able to connect with once I opened a channel leading outside of our universe. From there it was a simple matter of normalizing various frequencies..." Nightfall Twinkle's voice trailed off when he saw the look of surprise on Prince Helios's face.

"Twilight, do you realize the full gravity of what you've done here?" Helios asked. "You actually tapped into the larger M-brane field? Your device must have harnessed mana across all possible universes at the same time! My Sun, this type of transference, and the sheer amount of magic you must have funneled in order to pull your minds here without your bodies adjoined to them—you and your friends are incredibly lucky to be alive."

Nightfall's eyes widened as he silently did the math. "Oh my Stars, you're right!" he gasped. "I didn't realize what the mana surge could do because I forgot to consider the possibility of breaking the buffer! I mean, nopony has ever harnessed energy like this before... Oh, I'm such a foal! I could have killed myself and all of my friends. Prince Helios, this is the end of my multiverse experiments, I swear to you," Nightfall Twinkle said, lowering his head.

Helios took a deep breath, then spoke. "While I'm very relieved to hear that, I don't think you follow all of the implications. We can't risk sending your minds back the same way," he said. "We'd have a very good chance of ending up with twelve dead heroes, and I will not allow that possibility."

"No, I get that," said Nightfall Twinkle. "We just need to open a physical portal instead, and Nightfall's coordinates to our universe are still right here on the device. I can calculate how to create a specific portal back to our universe that will be safe. I could pull it off in a week, tops."

Helios's expression quickly changed to one that Nightfall had never before seen on Princess Celestia: a deep and vulnerable-looking sadness. "Twilight, this isn't like the alternate Equestria or Equestria High. As you've pointed out, your universe is perfectly symmetrical with ours," he explained. "Perfect symmetry. Do you not realize what this means? Perhaps it isn't registering because you don't want to accept the implications, but think very carefully. Our worlds are identical across the border, but any gate must appear as a mirror image..."

Nightfall Twinkle furrowed his brow in thought, and then his eyes widened. "But perfect symmetry for a physical portal would mean..." he said. "Oh no. Any attempt to walk through the portal..."

"...would be met by your double making the same attempt, barring your bodies from crossing, and thus your minds from switching places. Spells cast across the portal would automatically counter one another. Attempts at communication to negotiate a plan of agreement would be just as fruitless as they would be unnecessary," finished Prince Helios.

"But there are differences! Applejune is larger and heavier than Applejack, for one."

"Certainly. Which means if you opened a portal, you could end up breaking symmetry. But there's clearly a force opposing changes to symmetry, as you already noted, which is the only reason the symmetry exists. How strong must a force like that be?" asked Helios.

Nightfall paused to consider the idea. "You're not serious," he said.

"I fear that I am. Whatever force holds our universes in concert must be incredibly powerful to maintain perfect symmetry in everything else when sex and gender themselves are asymmetrical. Any attempt to break symmetry would be opposed by this force, and such an attempt would be guaranteed to fail by whichever means is most likely," said Prince Helios. "Opening a physical portal with the specific intent of creating a symmetry violation would spell immediate disaster, and it would probably seem coincidental. The symmetry force might even cause an earthquake large enough to level all of Equestria, but the mere destruction of your castle and everypony inside of it is a more likely outcome."

"Dammit, you're right," said Nightfall Twinkle. "Okay, so that's out. Then... then we have to do it the risky way."

"No, Twilight. Even if your friends agreed to risk death, it would not be acceptable to the future of Equestria—to either of them. Even if allowing that sort of suicide mission made ethical sense, you and the other Bearers are too important to sacrifice," said Helios.

"But, then you mean we have to stay here? Absolutely not! I won't allow my friends to suffer for this stupid mistake," said Nightfall, his eyes wet with emotion. "I know how much this would hurt them, and I won't let them make that sacrifice. Even death would be better."

"That is an exaggeration, Twilight. Try to remain objective," said Helios, in a gentle voice. "But you are correct that the situation is unacceptable, and fortunately, there is a third option."

"Anything," said Nightfall, wiping a tear from his cheek with a fetlock.

"If you and your friends are mentally connected to your doubles in the other universe, we can cast Skrifa Hugur. It would be difficult to invoke for this purpose, but if Mani and I assist you, it will work," Helios said, his voice calm and soothing.

Nightfall's stared into space, and then his face fell. "No, it wouldn't work. They would always know something is wrong, and once that seed of doubt exists, they could end up facing what I've faced all my life..."

"Then we won't tell them," said Prince Helios, his voice firm and direct. "They'll never know, and that's why the spell will work. There's a good chance they'll be fine."

"But we have to give them a choice, at the very least!" protested Nightfall.

Helios sighed. "For your friends to have a choice, they would need to know the truth. And if they know the truth, then what's the point of casting the spell? Do you really want your friends to suffer?"

"I can't accept this, Helios. There must be another way," said Nightfall, his eyes begging.

Helios gently shook his head. "I cannot think of one. The longer you and your friends remain in this universe, the more risk the spell will carry. I can give you an hour to think about it, and I will speak with Prince Mani to see if he has any other ideas. But after that, you must make your decision. Either we cast the spell that will return things to normal, or you and your friends must remain here forever and learn to deal with the consequences."

"They're still going to suffer. Physically, mentally..."

"There's a good chance they won't suffer at all. Certainly that's better than the alternative."

Nightfall shut his eyes tightly. "It doesn't matter. Both options could mean my friends suffering at my expense."

"You said you it was an accident to come here. Your friends will forgive you," said Prince Helios.

Nightfall's face was etched with lines of worry and despair. "Either we stay here forever, where they'll eventually forgive me, but certainly suffer; or we try a spell with painful consequences that might not work; and they might end up suffering anyway. And if they learn how the spell works, they might not forgive me at all. I still think attempting the transfer a second time is a better option."

"Really? You would rather risk their deaths than cause them a minor inconvenience?" asked Helios.

"This is not a 'minor inconvenience'. Of all ponies, I should know. That spell is not an option, and neither is staying here," said Nightfall, his voice quivering with anger.

Prince Helios frowned. "Alright then. Let's put our entire hoof on the table, shall we?" he said. "You're willing to risk your life, and the lives of your friends, to avoid feeling a tiny bit of guilt for you-know-exactly-why. Is that it, then? Assuaging a princess's ego is more important than the lives of your friends?"

Nightfall Twinkle pretended not to listen. "You no longer outrank me, Prince Helios. You can't force me to do this to my friends. If we made it here in one piece, we can make it back the same way."

"You don't know that, Twilight!" growled Helios. "And whether or not I outrank you, I will destroy this device rather than allow you to bring about the death of your friends. Fortunately, I don't think it will come to that. Even in this state, you are not so blindly selfish."

Nightfall Twinkle covered his face with a hoof, near tears. "But it's all my fault! You want my friends to suffer because of a stupid mistake I made, while I... I feel, just, unbelievably guilty," said Nightfall Twinkle. "I never wanted this to happen."

"I know," said Prince Helios, placing a hoof on Nightfall's shoulder. "Welcome to royalty, son. It's a life of hard choices."

"Can't we at least let my friends in on the risks involved? Why do I need to make the call?" asked Nightfall.

"Twilight, we've already gone over this. The spell won't work if we communicate any details in advance," Helios said. "That would remove the option entirely."

Nightfall closed his eyes for a few moments, the wheels turning in his head. "There really are no other options... It's so unfair," he finally said.

"I know," said Helios. "It truly is unfortunate, but sometimes that is how life works."

"Is this my destiny, Prince Helios? Is this what I've earned for being crazy enough to want this?" Nightfall asked, pointing at the stone archway. "Here I am in a castle, surrounded by friends, and I'm still pushed by this desire to make myself into something more than I am, to be admired by ponies, even to have control over Nature herself. I mean, this need I've had all my life is what motivates me to excel, but it keeps pushing me over the edge. I keep flying too close to your Sun, and until now I'd never been burned," he admitted. "I just can't believe I actually did it this time. My poor friends."

Prince Helios gave a wan smile. "Normal ponies aren't the ones written about in history books. It is desire, and perhaps even insanity, that makes outliers like you and I into the remarkable ponies we are. I suppose in a way, yes, this is your fault. But it is not in the way you are thinking," he said. "This is not karma or payback for anything you have sought to achieve. It simply is what it is. You know, I once told a young pony named Nightfall Twinkle that being a prince requires incredible sacrifice. Including sacrifices from one's friends: even if they never signed up for it, and even when they don't deserve it. I'm sure Princess Celestia has told you the same. Be happy for your fortune, Twilight Sparkle, and be happy for the fortunes of your friends. Remember why you studied magic in the first place. Your friends would sacrifice everything for you to be happy. They aren't suffering because of you, but because they love you. And that love, I believe you have earned."

Nightfall Twinkle nodded, and Prince Helios reached out to wipe another tear from his cheek.

"I don't want to hurt my friends this badly, and I don't want to lie to them..." Nightfall said, gritting his teeth.

"You already know the choice I would make, Twilight, and I hope you will heed my counsel. However, as you have pointed out, I can't make that decision for you. It is yours alone to make. But neither choice is without dire consequence," cautioned Helios.

Nightfall nodded, sat quietly on the floor of the library, and brooded.

Dear Prince(ss)

Dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,

This past week has been the worst ordeal of my life. My friends are all concerned about me, and none of them can understand why I'm so depressed. I tell them I feel guilty about what they've had to endure, but of course they don't comprehend the true meaning of my words. My friends don't even know the scope of their own sacrifice. Worst of all, I suspect they would willingly have made that sacrifice, just to help me, if only they knew how important it was.

It's ironic that I've finally managed to achieve what I set out to do years ago, and purely by serendipity (a.k.a. Bubble/Pinkie somehow picking the one set of coordinates that mattered). Yet at the same time, what happened to my friends is still my fault. I never should have disobeyed you, Princess Celestia. Somehow, my friends seem to have come through this thing unscathed, so I guess you were right. Things are pretty much back the way they used to be in this universe, except of course for me, and for the secret that the three of us now share.

Princess, when we were standing in the library, and you told me to remember why I first studied magic, it felt like a slap to the muzzle. At the time, I thought your choice of words was a careless mistake. Now I realize you wanted it to sting. You wanted it to leave a mark on my heart, and it did, and for that I'm grateful. The sooner I can let the pain in, the sooner I'll be able to achieve some kind of closure. I'm still hoping that's possible.

Ever since I can remember, I've been pushing myself to learn everything about magic for one single, focused reason. Princess Celestia, until Princess Luna learned about it earlier this week, you were the only pony I ever entrusted that secret to. (Your counterparts, I mean.) I never told my family, not even my BSBFF! I suppose I felt like it was so shameful that I had to hide it forever. I'd hoped that the most talented mage in the world would be the pony who could help me reach my dream. I'm ashamed to say it, but your young Twilight Sparkle didn't bare her soul to you because she trusted you, Princess; she did it only because she was desperate. I suspect you knew that all along, though.

Why did it have to be one of those rare things magic just can't do? I knew magic didn't have the solution even before I moved to Ponyville, but I kept trying anyway. I spent years researching transformation magic, and I even became proficient in changing species! To this day, I still don't understand why it won't work. Magic is the most amazing of all the sciences, but it's also the most fickle and frustrating.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to tell my friends the truth. Of course I want to tell them, but what would they think of me? Even worse, would they start to remember? Would they begin to suffer the same way that I did, the way that little preschool-aged unicorn suffered, friendless and alone, pushing herself like mad to lift things with magic when most unicorns can barely read? I can't let that happen to anypony else, especially not my friends. Perhaps with time, and with your assistance in dreams, Princess Luna, I'll be able to tell them. But it won't be anytime soon, and until then I will wear this delicate tiara on top of my petite little head, and I will do my damnedest to bear its crushing weight.

Thank you both for forcing me to do what needed to be done: the memory alterations to fix the disjunction between my friends' bodies and their minds, the lies we had to tell them, and every filthy ethical transgression we had to commit in order to put things back the way they needed to be. Was rewriting my friends minds with their double's memories honestly any different than sending them back? Given that everything else in their minds is symmetrical, memories should be the only difference, right? It should be the same, logically speaking, but I can't say with confidence that swapping two otherwise identical pony's memories is the same thing as swapping their minds entirely.

I know you believe that this was for the best, Princess Celestia. It's certainly more convenient and less heartbreaking than having five transgender friends who would most likely be suffering as badly as I've suffered. But you have more than a thousand years experience in setting your emotions aside for the common good, while I remain haunted by the decision I have made. Please forgive me for everything that led to this, if either of you can. I know it probably sounds silly, but it would mean a lot to me.

Perhaps someday I'll be able to enjoy the fact that I'm finally a real mare, without all of this terrible guilt.

Your friend,

Prince Nightfall Twinkle

Princess Twilight Sparkle

Homecoming

Bubble Pop pouted. "Do we have to go back so soon? There are so many things we haven't done yet! Like, you know, fun stuff!" he protested. Behind him, Flittercoy's eyes widened as he vigorously shook his head in disagreement.

"To be honest, it ain't all that different from my other body," said Applejune, experimentally air-bucking with Kicks McGee.

"Oh you. You would say something like that," teased Curio, jabbing Applejune in the side with his hoof.

"I just want to be able to fly again without going through a whole week of retraining," said Rainbow Rush. "If I stay here much longer, I'll need to retrain when I get back, too. And that would suck," he said.

"Well," said Nightfall Twinkle, "I'm afraid we might be out of commission for a while anyway. I've made arrangements for the castle to be taken care of while we recuperate."

"Recuperate?" asked Applejune. "We made it from there to here in a jiffy, not a hair out of place, except for the whole stallion thing. Is there somethin' y'ain't tellin' us, Night—I mean, Twilight?"

Nightfall Twinkle sighed. "Look, girls, here's the thing. After Prince Helios and I talked this over, we realized that sending us all back the same way would be very dangerous, and I probably won't be able to use the device again anyway. So we're going to use magic to make the journey safer, more or less, and the device will be destroyed in the process," he explained. "And frankly, this is going to hurt a lot, both physically and mentally. I'm... I'm very sorry." Then Nightfall began to cry, and six surprised friends walked forward to hug him.

"It's not a problem, hon. I'm sure we can take it," Applejune said, adjusting his hat to allow for a nuzzle to Nightfall's neck.

"Absolutely. Adventuring isn't always my cup of tea, Twilight, but I wouldn't trade these moments with friends like all of you for the world," said a smiling Curio. "Even a world brimming with gold and silks. Oh, how utterly tragic we didn't end up there instead."

"Um, Twilight?" asked Flittercoy, as he pulled away from the group hug. "Aren't Prince Helios and Prince Mani in danger if they're here in the library when you start the machine?"

"We'll be protected," said Prince Helios. "Frill, however, should leave the library until the rest of you have returned to your universe."

Frill turned to Curio and hugged him. "Be nice to Spike, okay?" she asked. "I think you're every bit as amazing as my Curio. I want to ride him the moment he gets back," she sighed, then raced out of the library. Prince Mani shut the door with his telekinesis.

"Huh. You were right, Rush. Er, Dash, I mean. Pretty creepy," said Applejune.

"Oh please. Our relationship is completely innocent," said Curio. "Besides, such a thing might be perhaps a bit... untoward, in our Equestria, but I'm sure there's nothing unusual in this universe about a little filly doting on a mature stallion." Prince Mani raised a brow, then exchanged an uncomfortable glance with his brother.

"Okay. Is this it, then?" Nightfall Twinkle asked Helios, his voice filled with reluctance.

"It is time," said Prince Helios. "This would be the last chance to back out of our arrangement, Twilight."

Nightfall Twinkle paused for a long moment, then shook his head, and slowly exhaled. "Okay everypony. As I said before, this isn't going to be much fun. Each of you will probably black out from the forces involved. Our brains might be temporarily muddled from the experience, since we don't belong in these bodies and we've been stuck in them for more than two hours now. The five of you should lie down on the floor, and try to relax. I'll join you once the machine is running, and then the princes will take over from there," he explained.

Flittercoy smiled. "Normally I'd be worried about the pain, and I guess I kind of am, but I'm just so happy we're going back. This is a nice body to visit, but I really wouldn't want to stay here," he said. The rest of Nightfall Twinkle's friends nodded and smiled. Nightfall Twinkle himself, however, still looked very sad.

"Aww. Cheer up Nightie-Twilie! It's okay if it hurts," said Bubble Pop. "We know you didn't mean it, and it's been a super-fun adventure!"

"Yeah, sugarcube. This is what friendship's all about ain't it?" said Applejune.

"You are definitely going to black out before I do," said Rainbow Rush, grinning at Applejune.

"Ha! You're on, boy," winked AJ, flexing his muscles as he lay flat against the floor.

Curio sighed. "This is going to ruin my mane, I just know it. Well, just like Bubble—of course, I mean Pinkie—said, adventure and so forth," he declared, putting on a brave face.

"Thank you guys. That means everything to me," Nightfall Twinkle said, still teary-eyed. "Now just close your eyes, and hold on tight. We'll be home before you know it."

The machine didn't make any noise this time, but the music of three alicorns activating their magic filled the air, followed shortly thereafter by the popping, hissing sound of electrical discharges coming from all around. Static electricity flowed across the pelts of Twilight's friends, who clenched their eyes shut even tighter in response.

"Woo hoo!!!" yelled Bubble Pop, and then yelped as a painful wrenching sensation gripped his back. Several ponies grunted in exertion, but the pain was short-lived. The sweet kiss of darkness came swiftly.

"Did it work?" coughed Applejack, looking around. It was very dim, and it appeared that all of the crystal lights in the library had exploded. The stone archway had been smashed to bits and most of the device had melted. Crystal fragments and stone rubble dotted the carpet.

Princess Celestia stepped forward and her horn began to illuminate most of the library in a warm glow. "Yes, Applejack. You're all back," she said, smiling gently. She reached down to help Twilight Sparkle to her feet as the other ponies came to.

"I think somepony just shoved a javelin through my brain," gasped Rainbow Dash.

"I'm... rather foggy-headed myself," said Rarity, coughing. "We should have, excuse me—our mare, no—stallion counterparts should have taken these outfits off before taking the return trip. Although I suppose that's our fault as well. Oh wonderful, I think I've positively ruined the ruching on this outfit..."

"Um, does anypony else have more than one set of memories from today?" gasped Fluttershy, shivering on the ground. Applejack helped her unsteady friend to her hooves.

"There was no way to keep your memories from getting tangled up with theirs," Princess Luna said. "As Princess Twilight Sparkle informed you, the return trip was both physically and mentally demanding."

Pinkie Pie opened her eyes and instantly jumped to her feet. "Owie-zowie! That really was painful," she said with a bright smile. "Oh no, Twilight you look awful!"

Twilight Sparkle's legs were shaking, her mane was a mess, and her were eyes puffy and sore. "I'm... okay," she said in a whispery voice, as Princess Celestia gently hugged her.

"Oh goodness. What happened to our dear Twilight?" asked Rarity, limping over to Twilight Sparkle.

"Twilight Sparkle had to assist us in casting the spell, in order to ensure that everything went smoothly," said Princess Celestia. "She will need at least a week to recover, even though her strain was more mental than physical. It may take the rest of you some time to fully recover as well. I will help Twilight to her bed, and my sister will lead the rest of you to your guest quarters. I presume you know the way, but we would prefer to leave nothing to chance at the moment."

"Eh, I think I can still make it home..." said Applejack.

"No way. You're staying here with the rest of us colts, or fillies, or whatever the hay we are at the moment," said Rainbow Dash. "I mean, if you go home and I don't, it'll make me look bad! Not that I couldn't go home, I mean. I'm just, y'know, really tired."

"Alright," relented Applejack, with a soft smile on her face. "You done talked me into it."

"Twilight, please don't ever put this much burden on your saddle again," said Fluttershy, her legs still very shaky. "We worry about you..."

"I'll be fine," wheezed Princess Twilight Sparkle, her neck limp and her eyes downcast as Princess Celestia raised the smaller alicorn up onto her back.